Count me as an ardent supporter of Arizona congressional candidate James Woods. When the pro-choice Democrat received a survey from the National Pro-Life Alliance asking him to pledge his support for the “sanctity of life,” he send back a box of condoms that read “prevent abortion” along with this letter.

Anyone wanna take bets on the National Pro-Life Alliance’s position on these policies? As Woods well knows, most anti-choice groups oppose the very things — contraception access, comprehensive sex education — that lead to fewer abortions. In fact, as the we’ve witnessed a remarkable drop in the abortion rate over the last few decades, anti-choice groups have bent over backwards to deny, against all evidence, that the decline has anything at all to do with preventing unintended pregnancies through birth control. It’s almost as if they care less about protecting the “sanctity of life” and more about policing sexuality. But, who knows, maybe the National Pro-Life Alliance will prove me wrong by accepting Woods’ challenge.

For his part, Woods says his “reproductive justice position is part of a progressive Humanist platform that he hopes will motivate other politicians to be open about their Humanist values and identity.” If he wins a tough battle against his Republican opponent, he could become the first openly atheist candidate to be elected to Congress — and a pretty great advocate for reproductive health too.

Atlanta, GA

Maya Dusenbery is an Executive Director in charge of Editorial at Feministing. Maya has previously worked at NARAL Pro-Choice New York and the National Institute for Reproductive Health and was a fellow at Mother Jones magazine. She graduated with a B.A. from Carleton College in 2008. A Minnesota native, she currently lives, writes, edits, and bakes bread in Atlanta, Georgia.

Maya Dusenbery is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Editorial.

An Idaho lawmaker received a brief lesson on female anatomy after asking if a woman can swallow a small camera for doctors to conduct a remote gynecological exam.

The question Monday from Republican state Rep. Vito Barbieri came as the House State Affairs Committee heard nearly three hours of testimony on a bill that would ban doctors from prescribing abortion-inducing medication through telemedicine.

[...] Dr. Julie Madsen, a physician who said she has provided various telemedicine services in Idaho, was testifying in opposition to the bill. She said some colonoscopy patients may swallow a small device to give doctors a closer look at parts of their colon.

At this rate, 2015 is looking like it will continue the trend that we’ve seen the last four years, during which states have passed a record-breaking 231 laws restricting abortion. Despite this onslaught, a recent Gallup poll shows that many Republicans want abortion laws to be even more strict. Ironically, their dissatisfaction has increased during the time when state laws have, in fact, become stricter. And Gallup suggest the results might ...

Patel was found guilty of two mutually contradictory charges — feticide and felony neglect of a dependent. The former charge only holds if Patel intentionally terminated her pregnancy causing a miscarriage or stillbirth, while the latter only holds if she delivered a live, viable fetus. As Jessica Mason Pieklo explains, in order to try to cover both bases, prosecutors argued that Patel took abortion drugs that text messages indicated she’d ordered online “to induce a miscarriage but that instead of miscarrying, Patel delivered a live fetus that she abandoned.”